What’s in a Title?

So, how much is really in a title? It’s an odd thing to think about considering a title is really just a logo or brand of sorts. A piece of advertising to catch the viewer for a split second and leave a lasting impression on them to achieve the sale later on down the track. It’s obvious the title needs to not only characterize the product well but it also needs to implement stylization in a way that effectively transfers enough information to the viewer so that they can depict an accurate idea of the product within a short amount of time, often just one glance.

Effective use of colours and font style can convey a surprising amount of relative information to the viewer. Take the Terminator franchise for example, the slick, square and sharp lines of the font covered with cold metallic colours symbolizes man-made, mechanical and engineering. Fairly close to what the franchise is about wouldn’t you agree?

Shrek on the other hand which is a fantastic kids film i must say is portrayed by this big bright green vulgar font with two little Ogre ears on the ‘S’. Not only is the ‘S’ emphasized in size (resembling the larger then life main character ‘Shrek’) but the green colour used not only resembles Shrek and most of the countryside that dominate the film, but also appeals to its target audience which is children.

On top of colours, font and general style of a title, symbols are also often used to illustrate the imagination in a viewer. Much like the ears in the ‘S’ for Shrek and the ‘eye’ in the ‘M’ for Monster inc, symbols can become amazingly powerful tools not just for the information they can convey but also their ability to become a symbol that represents an entire franchise, product or character that will often transcend barriers like culture, language and beliefs.